Load discharging car



March 10, 1953 G. B. DOREY LOAD DISCHARGING CAR 4 SheetsSheet Original Filed July 30, 1947 filmmlkn wwwllll March 10, 1953 G. B. DOREY LOAD'DISCHARGING CAR Original Filed July 50, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed July 30, 1947 M, OW MW: mm W13 March 10, 1953 G. B. DOREY LOAD DISCHARG ING CAR 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed July 30, 1947 Patented Mar. 10, 1953 LOAD DISiJHARGING CAR George "B. Dorey, Westmount, Quebec, Canada,

assignor to Enterprise Railway Equipment Con1pai1y,-0hicago, 111., a corporation of lllinois Substituted for abandoned applicatiouSei-ia'lNo. T764313, .i'uly30, 1947. This'application'rtugust 20,1948,Serial'No.45;419

3 Claims. 1

My invention relates to an improvement in load discharging carsand is a substitute for'my abandoned application Seria'l Number 764,713, filed July 30, 1947. My invention 'is especially related to that'type of hopper :car having .a discharge outlet and a sliding closure 'forcontrolling the discharge of the'lading.

An object of my invention is to provide .an imprvedtype of sliding'closure for the discharge opening of'a hopper car whereby the closurefmay "be easily moved in an opening direction under abnormal conditions such as occur when the lading packs and adheres to the upper surface 'of the closure.

Another object of the-inventionis to provide a wedge-shaped closure having its load contacting surface inclined relatively to the surface planeon which it is mounted whereby the load contacting surf-ace oftheclosure'will draw away from the load during its travel in an opening direction.

"Still another object of my invention isto provide auxiliary starting means to obtain greatly multiplied leverage forinitiating opening vmovement of the closure and thus overcome the initial resistance and effect a breakaway.

-'A'still furtherobject of my invention is to prov-i'clesupplementary means for operating the closure which will function as a starting" meansand also operate -to force the closure to fully :closed --posit-ion and retain thesame against opening movement.

A specific object of my invention is' to: provide mechanism which will :seal" the opening at the outer end of the closure-and alsoiprovide means forscr-aping the surface 0f the closure free of adhering material.

My inventionfurther residesinrcertainfeatures -of construction identified"withitherpositioning of the parts in relation to -thelcar structure to-prov-ide -safety and convenience of operation.

For 3 further i comprehension of my invention reference may behad' to the accompanying drawings where-in:

Fig. 1'- is a==side eleVational view: of aiportion of a-hopper car and showing' as muchiasxneces- ---sary of the car-structureto-illustratelthe application of my improved constructiomthereto.

Fi'g.-'-=2- is--an end viewon an: enlarged scale of the lowenportion of the hopper :structure illustrated in Fig.--1- as-viewed on a line Z-t-fi of :said FigQl' except that the- 'startingZand locking lever is omitted.

Fig. I 3 1s -a vertical transverse sectional view 'through thelower portion of a' hopper as taken on a line 3 3--of 'Eig. 1, said View illustrating sl-ightly more than one half .of the widthr. ;of the Fig. 4 is a vertical transversa'sectional'view on"- an"enlarged' scale taken through thelower lpor-tion' :of the hopperziand onma line 4-=-4- 'of Fig' l.

Fig. ;5 is .a planview on an enlargedsoaleof the outletassembly shown as detached from the car structure.

-Fig. dis a fractional plan view of the outer end of the assembly illustrated in .Fig. .5 showing the starting and locking lever positioned with the closure in partially :opened position.

Fig. 7 is a plan viewvof thecombination sealing and scraping member.

@Fig. 8 is aside view of thermemberjillustrated insFig. 7.

"Fig; 9 is a vertical sectional-viewtaken through the outlet assembly and taken on a line corresponding-substantially toa line 9-9 ofv Fig. '5.

of the structure to illustrate the pocket adapted to receive the handle-of-thestartinganddocking lever, it being understood that :the leverris omitted from this'view.

Referring :noW-to the drawings wherein my improved vconstruction is shown as applied to a shopper dump car, A indicates one-"ofthe rails on which the'car-is adapted toibetmountedn-B one of the Wheels .of the car; C'the hopper structures; D the outlet frames :at the bottom of the "hopper structures .the. sliding closures-"associated with the outlet frames; F the startingand locking mechanism; and .G: the combination sealing and scraping "means.

In this embodiment'of my invention;-.my.-im-

I proved construction is shown as -applied 110* a *hopper car having a long-itudinal center sill *I 0 extending lengthwise of the car, said centerrsill including a; pair of beamrmembers eachhaving :a" vertically extending web I I,;inwardly;,directed horizontally extending .fia'nge I 2 3 and lowermutstanding marginal *flanget ifi. The. center;;sill beam members are surmounted by. an vinverted 'V-shaped'hood M: and in .theangle: defined ;.by the web and lower outstanding. @fiange' there; is disposed *an inclined-sshedding.plate t5; :sai'dsplate abemg -weided "to :the "outstanding flange-.ras indicated at [6.

It is xunderstoodvthat the2..:constructionwofnzhe hopper and side-wallsisduplicated:oniltheroppo- .--site sides of the :centeri sill and'rinasmuch' asrthe -2 structure on the ;opp0site sides of. the car iszsimielar, the description herein {will be confineidttop one hopper structure. and its aassociatedcroutlet tstnucure.

One of the vertical:sidewallsoofszthe can is in- -':dicated by the side 4 plate I l and ;:side ebottom angle i 8 and: the hopper structures :0 disposed between the centersill :andgsidetwallssare teach defined by transversely :extending :zwalls 9-1; I 9

which slope:longitudinally;"oi-thescar randiewith inner and outer side hopper walls indicated at 28 and 2| respectively complete a four-sided funnelshaped hopper structure carried by the side wall and centersill respectively. The hopper struc tures on the respective sides of the center sill are arranged in transversely alined relation and are so located as to dispose the outlet openings directly above the space between the rails. The pair of transversely alined hoppers are brought into meeting relation by deflecting the inner hopper walls or sheets 2c of the respective alined hoppers to present inclined wall sections 22 and .vertical wall sections 23 and uniting the latter by rivets 24. Below the vertical wall sections 23 the said inner sheets 20 are continued in an outwardly and downwardly inclined slope as at 25 to provide inclined floor sections. The said inclined floor sections 25 in combination with the outer inclined floor walls 21 and the transversely extending longitudinally sloping floors 19 cooperate to provide a hopper structure having a lower funnel-shaped structure.

The marginal edges of the said respective walls 19, 20, and 25 are spaced apart to present a rectangular discharge opening and positioned in the said opening is the outlet frame D. Said outlet frame D includes an upper attaching section having upwardly and outwardly extending side and end walls which overlie and conform to the shape of the funnel-shaped hopper structure and are secured thereto. Said respective walls which overlie the hopper sheets are indicated at 25, 21, 28 and 29 respectively.

The outlet frame D below the attaching wall section is formed with horizontally extending walls 30 and 3| respectively disposed at each end of the hopper outlet and said walls in combination with horizontally extending walls 32-32 present a foursided runway on which the closure E is slidably mounted. Said walls 32-32 extend inwardly from the lower portion of the side attaching inclined walls indicated at 21 and 28. The sloping end wall 29 is slotted at its lower portion to present an elongated opening 33 through which the outer end of the closure E extends.

Below the supporting walls 38, 3! and 32 the frame is extended downwardly for an appreciable distance in order to present a foursided discharge chute of appreciable depth. The chute portion is made up of transversely extending end walls meeting with longitudinally extending side walls, each said transverse wall including a downwardly sloping upper wall section 34 and a vertically disposed section 35 and the longitudinally extending side walls are indicated at 36.

Adjacent the lower margin of said chute walls the frame is provided with an outstanding horizontally disposed ledge 31 which extends completely around the chute and below said ledge on two adjacent sides of the frame there is a groove 38. The said ledge 3'! and associated grooves are for the purpose of accommodating the frame of a removable extension chute which is generally employed with the outlets having sliding closures. The frame is applied with two of its sides inserted in the grooves and the other two sides are positioned to abut the outstanding ledge 31 and are clamped thereto.

The sliding closure E is preferably in the form of a casting of appreciable thickness and weight and is mounted for lengthwise movement on the supporting runways 30, 3| and 32 when the closure is in closed position. Longitudinal movement ofthe closure in an opening and closing direction is preferably effected by inter-engaging rack and pinion means. The rack is preferably formed of teeth 39 integrally associated with the underside of the closure and the pinion means consist of a pair of pinions 40 adapted to mesh with the rack teeth, said pinions being nonrotatively mounted on the operating shaft GI and secured against lengthwise movement by pins 42. The shaft is extended from side to side of the frame and is rotatably mounted in bearings 43 and d4, said bearings being formed integrally with the outlet frame. The bearing #13 is disposed at the inner side of the outlet and bearing 54 on the outer side of the said outlet.

The outer end of the shaft is fitted with an operating socket member 45 having a plurality of socket openings adapted to receive a removable operating bar 436 and said openings are disposed at an angle corresponding substantially to the angle of the sloping outer hopper wall. The said socket member at its outer end is provided with an extension in the form of a rectangular shape wrench receiving head as indicated at ll whereby a standard hopper car operating wrench may be used instead of the removable operating bar 46. The operating socket 453 and head 4? are spaced well away from the outer side of the outlet in order to permit of convenience of operation from a location adjacent the side of the car and in order to prevent bending of the shaft the outer bearing id is extended outwardly lengthwise of the shaft for an appreciable distance beyond the outer side wall of the frame.

In order to facilitate opening movement of the closure the upper or load contacting surface thereof as indicated at 43 is inclined relatively to the runway surface on which it is supported thereby providing a wedge shaped closure. The upper surface 48 of the closure inclines downwardly in a direction to move said upper surface away from the lading as the said closure is moved outwardly to opened position.

The employment of a wedge-shaped closure as a means of offsetting the binding tendency of the load on the closure surface is of importance in this art as with certain types of lading there is a tendency for the lading to pack and adhere with freezing effect to the upper surface of the closure. The importance of my improved construction is well illustrated in Fig. 9 wherein I have indicated by conventional dot and dash lines at 49 the position of the lading when the closure is in fully closed position and the relative position of the upper surface 48 of the closure when the latter is in opened position. It will thus be noted that the longitudinal movement of the closure in an opening direction has the effect of relieving pressure on said closure inasmuch as separation is made between the load and closure surface as soon as movement commences.

It will be appreciated that so-called frozen loads may require the exertion of extraordinary force to initiate opening movement of the closure and to this end I employ auxiliary starting means F to provide increased mechanical effort in moving the closure a limited distance and effecting a breakaway of the said closure. In its preferred form the said starting means is also utilized for completing the final closing operation of the closure and locking the same against opening movement.

Said starting and locking means F includes a lever 50 pivotally mounted on the outer end of the closure by means of a pivot 5|, said lever being adapted to have swinging movement a "plane substantially parallel to'the plane of move- Formed integrally with the frame D and-disposed in alinement with the lever section 53 is a shouldered keeper 58 adapted to have co-operating engagement with the said section 53 of the lever. Said keeper is in the form oi a housing having an open end and includes an abuttin wall 59 for engagement with the cam face 56 of the lever and spaced outwardly lengthwise of the frame is a shoulder 60 with which the detent 51 is adapted to engage for moving the closure to its final closed position and retaining the same in locked position. The lever is extended outwardly in a direction opposite to the cam section by means of a jointed handle 6! which is pivotally mounted at 62 to swing in a substantially vertical plane, said handle having a socket portion 63 adapted to receive a removable operating bar indicated conventionally at 66. Said lever is extended outwardly towards the side of the car and is adapted to rest in a pocket BEadjacent the outer side of the frame to thereby locl: the closure against movement in an opening direction, it being understood that the jointed lever is provided with sufiicient vertical movement to clear the receiving pocket. I,

Positioned adjacent to and outwardly of the slotted end wall 29 of the frame and extending contiguously thereto is the combined sealing and scraping member G. Said member G includes a body section 66 extending along the $101133 slot 33. The body section 66 is of angular formation with one wall 69 extending upwardly from the uppersurface of the closure and having the other wall 19 overlyingthe upper surface of the closure, the said walls 69 and in meet in a V- shaped relation thus providing a comparatively h edge 'li whicl extend l acr as th H s i a a s an] 1 s c ear e 60 v wall 21 is integrally urnted with sloping end wall closure and operates as a cutting edge to clear "the surface of the closureof any material "which might lodge thereon.

The outer surface'ioiwalljfiQisQfarcuate shape formed on a radius centering about the axis of pivotlis and the outer surface or wall 2!?"at; its

tw e th eidn esh iive sla ed s-v 0 standin f m. theunn n nd Qt w hhve the "body portion of the sealingmember is'a'wall 12 which extends from side to side of the frame 35 inne o s i waists jihdl 50 u sid piuth ir hle is iii h ihh 55.1mm wh ch the were s res stan e ih fhe p j h iiq ihefi time. 5 are springs 13 13 which operate tojfo'rc'e the an Op in 1 .1 9%? g it e this In nner the springs are tnerety'maimamed The ex 'he fft pf h hs 'ii eih i h :Vs alin v m iwh es t fm in i th sai 'imeia aha' l me h bfl h i hh i th upper surface of the closure and thus'se s the 55 opening in the slot 33"whi'ch" naturallyincrea'ses iaoheieht a the qe'ees ap d a shmve .ouiw rsl y n a opening ecmi n- J h fP :osu evexe te b th sbh h ot h hhhah s h ;eflicien y of the sealing member its capacity as a scraper.

At each side of the ffifi adja 'n' 'tfief'slottd end there are disposed vertical wallisectibhs inv. i 1, at a 9 an .80 j 'hsli 't l yisaid w l .disposedin transversely s aced relation igvlththe tpqs s bs n anria a h rri w lhl hfb m m r in l n id wa 1 n 121 an theputer of saidwallsBB extending downwardly ffrorn the upper margin of said side walls 21 idimenwalls. h lf? xt dd l l y i themnds of the frame proper and attached 'to said ext s ons:a as n em at u de ra l 8 for supporting the closure in open position. The a d e te d d ardon f he W l t w d r. exten n nrpi ci h' '82'Wh e ,a stop for the lever handleili l to pre nt in mov m n of saidl ve an ih I e-01 fij'. fotner parts of the outlet frame forms the to maintain the ensure against outwaiamovement- .o The aid quter... al fil h eh l ds b' .wardly rrom ltheh p er mar h in p29 and it out an n van 1?. sh a i i li braced relat ely 'otqlthesi r. W l by int .--graily relatee.tra sv sely, ex nd n W ll tions '33, the said :wall sections 83 are i5 died i wi h. an o eni i9 2 the rh ehi hl fi wall sec ons are is e l sl b eh e in 'i :m nman th arisl tfi vo s 618' a lc sesiii i the respective walls 19 and'i) 'also terminate adjacent the said pivot In order to ovide .ing lugs 85 and 86, said lugs project lengthwise beyond the transversely extending walls 83 and provide adequate bearings for the pivots 68.

The extension lug 8'! associated with the outer wall section 80 is extended beyond the end of the adjacent arm 61 of the sealing member in order to form a limiting stop for the lever 9i and restrict the final resting position of the same to one given position thereby assuring that the closure must be in fully closed position before the lever may drop in pocket.

The method of operation is as follows: Assuming the closure is in closed position with the parts as in Fig. and the lever resting in pocket 83, the operator inserts removable bar 64 in the socket portion 63 of the lever 61 and then moves the lever upwardly a sufficient distance to clear the upwardly extending projection 82 and thereafter continued movement of the lever in a horizontal direction moves the parts from the position in Fig. 5 to the position in Fig. 6. During the movement of the parts from position in Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 6 the cam face 56 of the lever sweeps along the abutment face 59 on the frame and the closure is moved outwardly a limited distance. Owing to the wedge shaped closure a limited degree of outward movement will serve to effect a breakaway of the closure and further movement is then carried out through the use of the conventional type of rack and pinion mechanism.

The closing operation is a reversal to that described in connection with the opening of the closure except that the final stage of the closing and locking operation is effected by contact of the detent 51 with the shoulder 60 of the keeper.

The closure in its movement is guided against lateral displacement by the side walls of the slot 33 and by the inner faces of the wall sections 19. By disposing the guiding means for the closure entirely outside of the outlet I am thus enabled to eliminate the use of the conventional type of guides and slots such as are now widely used and which have a tendency to cause the lading to bind and pack. In my improved construction the side walls of the hopper lead outwardly at an incline directly from the lower surface of the sides of the closure and consequently any lading which remains lodged on the longitudinally extending runways is free to move laterally along said inclined sides. This condition is illustrated by Fig. 4 which indicates the relation of the inclined sides to the side of the closure and it will be noted that the sides of the hopper extend at such an angle as to present an unobstructed escapement plane along which material may be deflected laterally without packing or binding.

The disposition of the vertical side wall sections for supporting the operating shaft at the extreme outer sides of the outlet in combination with transverse bracing wall means for such outwardly spaced walls provides a well inte rated rigid structure capable of withstanding severe bending and twisting strains incidental to unusual operating conditions. It will be appreciated that the conditions requiring operation of the shafts by means of a lever sitting at a considerable angle to the axis of rotation must of necessity impose bending strains on the side walls of the outlet and associated mechanism parts and my improvements provide the strength to meet such conditions. v

While I have shown an embodiment of my invention I contemplate all modifications coming 3 within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:'

1. In a railway hopper car having a discharge opening and a slidably mounted closure for closing the opening; a frame surrounding the opening, said frame having runways extending lengthwise in the direction of movement of the closure for supporting the closure and guiding the same for movement in a plane transverse to said discharge opening, said closure having its upper load contacting surface inclined at an acute angle away from said plane of movement of said closure whereby said contacting surface recedes from the plane containing the surface of the lading engaging said contacting surface upon movement of the closure in an opening direction; means for moving the closure throughout its entire range of movement; and supplementary means for initiating opening movement of the closure to efiect a breakaway movement of the closure away from the lading, said means including a lever pivotally mounted on the closure and having on one side of the pivot a cam face; and an abutment on one end of the frame for cooperating engagement with the cam face of the lever.

2. In a railway car having a discharge hopper and an opening therefrom, in combination, runways rigidly mounted along opposite sides of said hopper, a closure slidable on said runways for closing said opening and guided by said runways for movement in a plane transverse to said hopper opening, said closure having its upper load contacting surface inclined at an acute angle away from said plane of movement of said closure whereby said contacting surface recedes from the plane containing the surface of the lading engaging said contacting surface upon movement of said closure in opening direction, and operating means for said closure to open and close the same.

3. In a railway car having a downwardly opening discharge hopper, runways generally horizontally rigidly mounted along opposite sides of said hopper, a closure generally wedge shaped in vertical cross section slidable on said runways for closing the opening of said hopper, those portions of said closure slidable on said runways guiding said closure for movement generally in a horizontal plane, the upper load contacting surface of said closure being inclined at an acute angle away from said horizontal plane in such manner that it moves laterally away from the plane of the under surface of compacted lading upon opening movement of said closure along said runways, and operating means for said closure to open and close the same.

GEORGE B. DOREY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,015,646 Simonton Jan. 23, 1912 1,469,719 Dobson Oct. 2, 1923 1,566,689 OCcnnor Dec. 22, 1925 1,654,189 Madland et al Dec. 27, 1927 1,825,027 Tobin et a1. Sept. 29, 1931 1,956,310 Boyd Apr. 24, 1934 2,094,979 Dietrichson Oct. 5, 1937 2,142,236 Campbell Jan. 3, 1939 2,386,702 McBride Oct. 9, 1945 

